The present invention relates to support apparatus for pivotally attaching soil working cultivator tools to a mobile agriculture frame.
There are in the prior art a large number of devices for pivotally attaching cultivator tools to a mobile frame member; however, there have been some deficiencies associated with such devices which substantially reduce the longevity thereof through wear on specific parts. In particular, a single pivot pin has a tendency to wear heavily on bearing surfaces associated therewith.
In addition, many of the prior art devices fail to fully protect the shank and thereby lead to breakage of such shanks. In particular prior shank holders often do not wrap around the shank, so that the shank is held securely by the holder without regard to the direction of movement of the frame member. This wrap around feature is especially important in protecting the shank when the tool is moving backwards, that is, opposite the normal earth working direction or sideways. Those prior art devices which have surrounded the shank have typically been relatively complex requiring welding or the like to form a rectangular sleeve. Also, the conventional methods of clamping the tool supports to the frame member have often produced weak clamping structures to which access for repair and relocation on a frame member is difficult to obtain.